Interactive graphical user interface for television set-top box

ABSTRACT

A graphical user interface (GUI) for a television set-top box which includes a web browser. The set-top box has an Internet data connection and is controlled from user inputs entered through a remote control device. The GUI generates menu screens that are superimposed over conventional television video images, so that the user can view browser graphics generated by the GUI while viewing television images in the background. The GUI further provides animated on-screen notifications of the presence of interactive content, such as hypertext links to World Wide Web pages, which may be associated with television content currently being received. The GUI can also provide animated on-screen notifications of other events, such as previously-specified dates and times or the end of a television commercial. A main menu screen includes function buttons which appear to slide back and forth. A two-state progress indicator indicates that a download is in progress and the degree of completeness of a download.

This application is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/937,630 filed on Sep.26, 1997 pending.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of user interfaces. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a user interface foraccessing interactive content using a set-top box.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Two important areas of technology in modern society are computers andtelevision. Computer technology is the basis of one of the most widelyused information resources in the world, the World-Wide Web (“the Web”).The Web is a collection of formatted hypertext pages located on numerouscomputers around the world that are logically connected by the Internet.The Web has become a resource for information relating to almost anysubject imaginable. Although advances in personal computers and webbrowser software have made the Web accessible to a large segment of thepopulation, many people are uncomfortable using personal computers. Incontrast, television is a technology with which most people are veryfamiliar and comfortable. Therefore, it is desirable to enable people toreceive information from the Internet, particularly the Web, on theirtelevision sets.

In addition, television broadcasters and sponsors may wish to notifyviewers of when interactive content is available that is associated witha program or commercial (advertisement) they are currently viewing. Forexample, a sponsor may have a Web site from which viewers can obtainadditional information on a product shown in a commercial they arewatching. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an entertaining yetrelatively unobtrusive way of notifying users when a television materialthey are viewing has interactive (Web) content associated with it and away for the viewer to easily and immediately access that informationusing their television sets. It is further desirable to provide suchfeatures so that the user experiences relatively seamless transitionsbetween viewing conventional television content and interactive (Web)content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is a method of generating a userinterface. A television signal is received and images are displayed on adisplay device based on the television signal. In addition, it isdetermined whether secondary information, that is associated with thetelevision signal, is available. If so, then a notification is displayedon the display device as the images are being displayed.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of generating a userinterface in a processing system, in which an input window is initiallydisplayed on a display device. The input window includes a number oficons located substantially adjacent to each other along a coordinateaxis. A user input selecting one of the icons is received. In responseto the user input, the input window is redisplayed so that at least oneof the icons appears to be shifted in position along the coordinateaxis. Information corresponding to the selected icon is then displayedadjacent to the selected icon along the coordinate axis.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of displayinginformation describing a state of communication of data between twoprocessing systems. An object is displayed on a display device. Theobject has a first subset and a second subset. A visually perceivablechange is caused upon the first portion of the object to indicate that acommunication link has been established between the first and secondprocessing systems, and a visually perceivable change is also causedupon the second portion of the object to indicate a degree ofcompleteness of a communication between the first and second processingsystems.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of generating a userinterface, in which first window is displayed on a display device, and asecond window is then displayed on the display device such that thefirst and second windows appear to move along a common axis.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of generating a userinterface in a processing system that can be connected to a televisionset. The processing system is for enabling a user to access a wide areacomputer network using the television set as a display device. In themethod, an input field is displayed in a first portion of a display areaof the television set. The input field is for allowing the user to entercharacters to specify a function of the processing system which the userwishes to access. A menu is also displayed in a second portion of thedisplay area while the input field is displayed. The menu specifyingfunctions of the processing system.

Other features of the present invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a processing system in which a set-top box receivesinputs from a remote control and provides outputs to a television set.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating internal components of theset-top box of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display screen, including a browser panel, asdisplayed on a television set.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display screen in which a browser panel issuperimposed on an interactive program guide.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display screen in which a menu button on thebrowser panel has been selected.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display screen in which an animated characterprovides an on screen notification.

FIG. 7 illustrates a display screen which includes an animated on-screennotification, a progress indicator, and an information panel foraccessing interactive content.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D illustrate a progress indicator at variousstages of an animated sequence.

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C illustrate an animated sequence showing slidingpanels.

FIG. 10 illustrates a “Go” screen generated by the graphical userinterface of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A user interface for accessing interactive content using a set-top boxconnected to a television set is described. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art thatthe present invention may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram or other symbolic form in order to facilitate description of thepresent invention.

Overview

The present invention is included in a “set-top” box which can beconnected to a conventional television set and controlled by a hand-heldremote control device. The set-top box provides a graphical userinterface (GUI) by which a user can easily access both standardtelevision programming and interactive content using the conventionaltelevision set as an audiovisual output device. As will be describedbelow, the GUI includes features which provide relatively seamlesstransitions between viewing television and interactive content, andwhich enhance the overall viewing experience for the user.

For purposes of this description, the term “interactive content” mayrefer to any of various types of information that a user can access ondemand, such as Web pages and other hypertext-based documents, audio,and video, any of which may originate from the Internet or any otherremote source. Some interactive data may be embodied in a conventionalhypertext language, such as Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). The boxincludes Web browser software to allow the user to access and downloadinteractive content.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 1 which includes the set-top box of thepresent invention. The set-top box 2 (hereinafter “the box 2”) isconnected to a conventional television set 3 via a transmission line 5.Television signals are received by the box 2 via transmission line 6,which may be connected to either an antenna or a cable televisionoutlet. The box 2 receives conventional AC power through line 7. The box2 receives user inputs entered from a handheld remote control 4 over awireless link. The wireless link may be an infrared (IR) link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, or any other suitable type of link. A high speed,bi-directional data path 9 is provided to the box 2, through which thebox 2 can access the Internet.

The GUI of the present invention is presented to the user on televisionset 3. The user generally interacts with the GUI by entering inputs fromthe remote control 4. Data indicating the availability of interactiveinformation, such as a Web site, may be provided to the box 2 via thetelevision input 6 or via the bi-directional data path 9. User inputsfor accessing interactive content are processed by the box 2 which, inresponse, transmits outputs onto data path 9. The interactive content isalso downloaded to the box 2 via data path 9.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the internal components of box 2.Note that FIG. 2 is intended to be a conceptual diagram and does notnecessarily reflect the exact physical construction and interconnectionsof these components. The box 2 includes processing and control circuitry15, which controls the overall operation of the system 1. Coupled to theprocessing and control circuitry 15 are a television tuner 16, a memorydevice 18, a communication device 17, and a remote interface 22. Thetelevision tuner 16 receives the television signals on transmission line6, which, as noted above, may originate from an antenna or a cabletelevision outlet. Processing and control circuitry 15 provides audioand video output to the television set 3 via line 5. The remoteinterface 22 receives signals from the remote control 4 via the wirelessconnection. The communication device 17 is used to transfer data betweenthe box 2 and one or more remote processing systems, such as a Webserver, via data path 9.

The processing and control circuitry 15 may include one or more ofdevices such as general-purpose microprocessors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),various types of signal conditioning circuitry, includinganalog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, input/outputbuffers, etc.

The memory 18 may include one or more physical memory devices, which mayinclude volatile storage devices, non-volatile storage devices, or both.For example, memory 18 may include both random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), various forms of programmable and/or erasableROM (e.g., PROM, EPOM, EEPROM, etc.), flash memory, or any combinationof these devices.

The communication device 17 may be a conventional telephone (POTS)modem, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) adapter, a DigitalSubscriber Line (xDSL) adapter, a cable television modem, or any othersuitable data communication device.

Note that in various other embodiments, other components may be added tothe system 1, either as components of the box 2 or as peripheraldevices. Such components might include, for example, a keyboard, a massstorage device, or a printer. Such components may be connected via aphysical connection or by a wireless connection (e.g., a wirelesskeyboard).

The present invention includes steps which, in various embodiments, maybe carried out by elements of the processing and control circuitry 15(e.g., a microprocessor or a DSP) executing sequences of instructions.The instructions may be stored in a memory, such as memory 18. Softwareinstructions may be loaded into the box 2 from another device, such as aremote computer system, over data path 9. In various embodiments,downloaded software instructions may be directly supported by the box 2,in which case execution of the instructions may be performed directlyupon their being received. In other cases, downloaded instructions maynot be directly executable by the box 2. Under these circumstances, theinstructions may be executed using an interpreter, which interprets theinstructions, or by otherwise executing instructions which convert thereceived instructions to instructions that can be directly executed.

Certain embodiments of the present invention may be carried out byhard-wired circuitry, rather than by executing software, or by acombination of hard-wired circuitry with software. Hence, it will berecognized that the present invention is not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software, nor to any particularsource for software instructions.

Nonetheless, to facilitate description it is henceforth assumed thataspects of the present invention are generally carried out through theexecution of software instructions within the box 2. It is envisionedthat these instructions may be written in the Java™ programming language(hereinafter “Java”) and, more specifically, in the PersonalJava™ subsetof Java (hereinafter “Personal Java”), both developed by SunMicrosystems, Inc, of Palo Alto, Calif. Note, however, that otherlanguages may be substituted within the scope of the present invention.As is well known, Personal Java is a Java application environmentdesigned specifically for network-connectable applications on consumerdevices. The details of developing software in Java and Personal Javaare well-known to those skilled in the relevant art and are not requiredfor an understanding of the present invention. Accordingly, such detailsare not provided herein.

The use of Java has a number of advantages, including allowing the GUIto be hardware-independent. Moreover, various features and functionsdescribed herein can be added to the portable box 2 at virtually anytime after the product is manufactured or purchased by simplydownloading the appropriate instructions to the box 2.

The features of the present invention will now be described in greaterdetail with reference to FIGS. 3 through 8C. These features aredescribed primarily in terms of the outputs that are perceivable to theuser. The precise manner in which these functions are implemented, or“coded”, is not important for an understanding of the present invention.Many implementations are possible within the scope of the presentinvention, and such implementations will be readily appreciated fromthis description by one skilled in the relevant art.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display screen 30 generated by the GUI of thepresent invention. The screen 30 includes a browser panel 31, which maybe thought of as the main menu screen for accessing the variousfunctions provided by the box 2. The browser panel 31 is designed tooccupy only a portion of the display screen 30, so that other content,including conventional television images, can also be viewed while thebrowser panel 31 is displayed. If desired, the browser panel 31 and itscontents can be made partially transparent by appropriately setting thecorresponding alpha (transparency) factor. The browser panel 31 includesa number of images and icons which represent controls for controllingthe GUI. These controls include a Go button 31, a Find button 32, andfunction buttons 34A, 34B, 34C, 34D and 34E. Browser panel 31 alsoincludes a display area 33 for displaying textual information to theuser. Using the system of the present invention, the user manipulatesthe physical controls on remote control 4 to select and activate the“soft” controls in the browser panel 31 and other controls provided bythe GUI. For example, the user may press buttons on the remote controlto select and activate any of buttons 31, 32 and 34A through 34E. Notethat, except as discussed below, the particular functions associatedwith these buttons are not germane for purposes of understanding thepresent invention and are therefore generally not described herein.

The GUI allows the user to easily access either conventional televisionprogramming and interactive content, such as Web pages. FIG. 4illustrates an example in which the system is displaying interactivecontent. In FIG. 4, an interactive programming guide, such as may befound on a Web site, is displayed on screen 30. The browser panel 31 issuperimposed over the lower portion of the programming guide.

Sliding Menu Buttons

The GUI of the present invention allows the user to view and select themenu buttons 34A through 34D in a manner which effectively uses thelimited space on the television screen 30. As shown in FIG. 4, buttons34A through 34E are normally displayed adjacent to each other along ahorizontal axis (not shown). Further, buttons 34A through 34E arenormally displayed without any textual description of their associatedfunctions. However, the user can easily view a text description of thefunction associated with any of these buttons by selecting the buttonusing the remote control 4. As shown in FIG. 5, button 34D is currentlyselected. By only displaying these descriptions when a particular buttonis selected, the GUI reduces clutter in the main menu screen.

When one of buttons 34A through 34E is selected, a window containing abrief text description of the function associated with that buttonappears adjacent to the selected button. Window 36 includes thedescription “Display Page Info.” associated with button 34D. Also, whenone of buttons 34A through 34E is selected, the selected button and eachof the buttons to one side of the selected button appear to slidehorizontally to make room for the text description of the selectedbutton. Thus, in the example of FIG. 5, because button 34D has beenselected, each of buttons 34A through 34D appears to have slid to theleft to make room for window 36; however, button 34E remains in itsprevious position. Similarly, if button 34C had been selected, then eachof buttons 34A through 34C would appear to slide to the left to makeroom for the text description of button 34C, while buttons 34D and 34Ewould remain in their normal positions.

On-Screen Notifications

The GUI of the present invention also provides an entertaining yetrelatively unobtrusive way of notifying a user when interactive contentcan be accessed in relation to material he is currently viewing on thetelevision screen. Such interactive content may include the Web site ofa sponsor whose commercial is currently being viewed, for example. Theclient box 2 may receive data indicating the presence or availability ofsuch interactive content via the television input 6. More specifically,such data may be included within the vertical blanking internal (VBI) ofthe received television signal. Alternatively, such information may beprovided on the data path 9.

Referring now to FIG. 6, when the presence or availability ofinteractive content is detected by the box 2, a window 40 is opened inthe corner of the display screen 30. The window 40 includes a small,animated character 41, which moves in order to gain the user'sattention. In one embodiment, the character 41 is a cartoon-likecharacter, as illustrated, which appears to waive its “arms” to attractthe user's attention. Note that the window 40 and the animated character41 are superimposed over the standard television images or whatever elsethe user happens to be viewing at the time. By adjusting the alphafactor appropriately, window 40 or character 41 or both can be given atransparency effect, if desired.

In response to the on-screen notification, the user can access theinteractive content by pressing a button on remote control 4 to cause aninformation panel 45 to appear, as shown in FIG. 7. The informationpanel 45 includes two buttons, a Previous Info button 46 and a Get Infobutton 47. By activating the Get Info button 47, the user enters thecommand to download the interactive content about which he has just beennotified. The Previous Info button 46 can be activated to access a listof the past several sets of interactive data (e.g., the past several Webpages) for which a notification has been received, from which the usercan access any of these sets.

The animated on-screen notification (e.g., animated character 41) canalso be used to alert the user to various other events and conditions.For example, the on-screen notification can be used to notify the userthat a commercial is ending and a program he had been watching isresuming. Hence, this feature prevents the user from inadvertentlymissing parts of his favorite program if he becomes preoccupied withviewing interactive content during the commercial. Note that techniquesfor detecting the end of a commercial segment are known in the videoprocessing arts.

The on-screen notification also can be programmed by the user to occurat a specific date and time, e.g., to alert the user that a specificprogram is starting. This feature may be integrated with the interactiveprogram guide (see FIG. 4). For example, the user may select a time slotfrom the displayed program guide and then enter an input to program theon-screen notification to occur just before the beginning of that timeslot.

Progress Indicator

Referring again to FIG. 7, when the information panel 45 is activated, aprogress indicator 50 appears in window 40. The progress indictor 50 isa two-state indicator; that is, one part of indicator 50 indicates thefact that a connection (communication link) has been established withthe remote server (i.e., the Web server), and another part indicates thefact that a download is in progress and the degree of completeness ofthe download. Refer now to FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D, which illustrate theappearance of the progress indicator 50 at various stages of a download.Specifically, FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D illustrate four frames (notnecessarily consecutive) in an animated sequence, in which the sequenceprogresses chronologically from the leftmost image to the rightmostimage, i.e., from FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D. It will be recognized that theintent is to convey to the user the impression of a smooth-flowinganimation sequence, rather than a series of discrete images. It willalso be appreciated that the actual animation sequence will likely usemany more frames than are shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D.

The indicator 50 includes two essentially concentric circles, includingan inner circle 52. After the Get Info button 47 being activated, acolored stripe 51 will begin moving around the inner periphery ofindicator 50 (i.e., the area outside the inner circle 52) when theconnection has been established. In addition, as the interactive data isdownloaded from the remote site, the inner circle 52 of indicator 50appears to “fill up” with color. In one embodiment, the inner circle 52appears to fill up with color in a clockwise direction in a mannersimilar to a clock hand going around the face of the clock. In otherwords, color appears to sweep around the inner circle 52 in a radialarc.

FIG. 8A shows the appearance of progress indicator 50 before thedownload has begun. In this case, the inner circle 52 of indicator 50 isunfilled (e.g., black) and color stripe 51 of indicator 50 isstationary. FIG. 8B shows the progress indicator 50 when the download isapproximately 25 percent complete; in that case, the inner circle 52appears to be approximately one-quarter filled, i.e., from the “twelveo'clock” position to the “3 o'clock” position. In addition, the colorstripe 51 at this stage will appear to be circling around the outside ofinner circle 52 in a clockwise direction. FIG. 8C shows the progressindicator 50 when the download is approximately two-thirds complete; inthat case, the inner circle 52 in the third image appears to beapproximately two-thirds-filled, i.e., from the “twelve o'clock”position to the “8 o'clock” position. The color stripe 51 at this thirdstage will still appear to be circling clockwise around the outside ofinner circle 52. FIG. 8D shows the progress indicator 50 when thedownload is complete; in that case, the inner circle 52 in the thirdimage appears to be completely filled with color and the color stripe 51will appear to be stationary.

Sliding Dialog Boxes

Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 7, the user may open the informationpanel 45 while the browser panel 31 is currently displayed. In thatcase, the information panel 45 will appear to slide onto the screen fromleft to right and will further appear to “push” the browser panel 31 outof the way to the right. In one embodiment, most of the browser panel 31will disappear off the right edge of the screen, except for the Gobutton 31 and Find button 32.

This function is illustrated in FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C. Each of FIGS. 9A,9B and 9C represents one frame in the animated sequence just described,in which the sequence progresses chronologically from FIG. 9A to FIG.9C. As with the progress indicator, the intent here is to convey to theuser the impression of a smooth-flowing animation sequence, rather thana series of discrete images. It will also be appreciated that the actualanimation sequence will likely include many more frames than are shown.

“Go” Panel

The GUI of the present invention allows the user to access the “Gopanel”, an embodiment of which is shown in FIG. 10, by activating the Gobutton 31. The Go panel allows the user to enter Internet addresses suchas Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to access Web sites, and to accessvarious system functions from a menu screen. An address is entered bytyping the address into input field 60 and then activating a control onremote control 4 to initiate a link to that address. An address may betyped into the input field by using, for example, the on-screen “soft”keyboard 61, which can optionally be displayed as part of the Go panel,or by using a separate, alphanumeric input device, such as a wirelesskeyboard (not shown).

The Go panel also includes a menu 62, in which a number of functionsprovided by the system are displayed (e.g., “TV Schedule”, “Bookmarks,“E-mail”, etc.). The user can access any of these functions by movingthe selection bar 63 to one of these selections using the remote control4, or by typing the name of the selection in the input field 60, andthen entering the selection.

Thus, a user interface for accessing interactive content using a set-topbox has been described. Although the present invention has beendescribed with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will beevident that various modifications and changes may be made to theseembodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification anddrawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of generating a user interface, themethod comprising the steps of: receiving a television signal;displaying video images on a display device; detecting a predeterminedevent; in response to detecting the predetermined event, displaying ananimated character on the display device as a notification of the eventas the video images are being displayed.
 2. A method according to claim1, wherein the step of detecting a predetermined event comprises thestep of determining when a user-specified event has occurred.
 3. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting apredetermined event comprises the step of detecting the end of atelevision advertisement.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein thestep of detecting a predetermined event comprises the step ofdetermining whether secondary information associated with the televisionsignal is available, wherein the secondary information includeshypertext data associated with a current content of the televisionsignal.
 5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the predeterminedcontent comprises data for generating an interactive user interface. 6.A method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined contentcomprises hypertext data corresponding to data originating from acomputer network.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein thehypertext data comprises data representing a World Wide Web page.
 8. Amethod of enabling a client processing system to generate a userinterface, the method comprising the step of transmitting sequences ofinstructions from a host processing system to the client processingsystem, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, whenexecuted on the client processing system, cause the client processingsystem to perform the method recited in claim
 1. 9. A processing systemfor connecting to a television set, the television set having a displaydevice, the processing system comprising: a processor; a receivercoupled to the processor for receiving a television signal; and a memorycoupled to the processor, the memory having stored therein sequences ofinstructions for configuring the processor to: cause video images on thedisplay device based on the television signal; detect a predeterminedevent; and display an animated character on the display device inresponse to detecting the predetermined event as the video imagescontained in the television signal are being displayed.
 10. A processingsystem according to claim 9, wherein the event comprises auser-specified event.
 11. A processing system according to claim 9,wherein the event comprises an end of a television advertisement.
 12. Aprocessing system according to claim 9, wherein the event comprises theavailability of secondary information associated with the televisionsignal, wherein the secondary information includes hypertext dataassociated with a current content of the television signal.
 13. Aprocessing system according to claim 12, wherein the predeterminedcontent comprises data for generating an interactive user interface. 14.A processing system according to claim 12, wherein the predeterminedcontent comprises hypertext data corresponding to data originating froma computer network.
 15. A processing system according to claim 14,wherein the hypertext data comprises data representing a World Wide Webpage.